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Door seals, cheap or expensive?


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For critical parts I buy genuine, but for door seals they are 5 time the price of Britpart or Bearmach. Are the cheaper brands ok and fit? They are for a 20 year old ex military so looks count for nothing !

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I did a bit of a test on this a few years ago mine and my friends truck were both1989 and I got aftermarket ones and mr money bags got genuine.

We fitted them side by side and I had fittedd both my after market ones in the time he had done half a genuine one. I had a go at his on the other sode and it took twice the time to fit. BUT.... mine are showing signs of age now and his still look new. Personally I would go after market again though :) good luck

Ben

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I've just bought some pattern ones ... They come on Monday. I hadn't seen the oem ones in eBay though ...

My original ones are pretty good except where the profile changes on the front of the door, and I think that's where my footwell water is getting in ..

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Fitted aftermarket to mine. Ok for the money but not great. They're not happy to follow the contour change and like others I've had to pluck out the 'reinforcing' core in that area to enable the door to actually shut without an almighty slam.

Can't comment on genuine but am starting to become wary of 'OEM' for 2 reasons.... firstly who says that is true, and secondly, like with brake pads, one company can make several versions of the same thing quality wise. Genuine porsche pads are not the same as aftermarket textar pads for porsche..... Just because they're made in the same factory doesn't necessarily mean much.....

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Can't comment on genuine but am starting to become wary of 'OEM' for 2 reasons.... firstly who says that is true, and secondly, like with brake pads, one company can make several versions of the same thing quality wise. Genuine porsche pads are not the same as aftermarket textar pads for porsche..... Just because they're made in the same factory doesn't necessarily mean much.....

I've come to believe that OEM means "overly expensive mistake" rather than "cheaper genuine"

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Fitted aftermarket to mine. Ok for the money but not great. They're not happy to follow the contour change and like others I've had to pluck out the 'reinforcing' core in that area to enable the door to actually shut without an almighty slam.

I've read about pulling out the core - I think I need to figure out what that means. On my original ones, where the contour changes, something metal inside has rusted to bits inside.

I can hear and feel it. Where that's gone the seal has lost shape and rolled over and it's that that lets the water in I think.

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Genuine seals are so much better. More supple rubber, easier to follow the curve of the body. I've had experience of both and would go genuine every time now. They're expensive yes, but you're not exactly buying them every year.

And the OEM ones on eBay are not the same as genuine, they are just the aftermarket ones. If it's not in a Land Rover packet it's not the real deal when it comes to door seals.

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I've just bought some pattern ones ... They come on Monday. I hadn't seen the oem ones in eBay though ...

My original ones are pretty good except where the profile changes on the front of the door, and I think that's where my footwell water is getting in ..

Thanks guys, I was hoping for a resounding yes or no for the cheapies so I’m going for a compromise !! IF Anderzanders are ok and keep the water out I’ll buy a pair of cheapies giving me breathing space to get the genuine ones, (tight times at the moment). IF Anderzander is unhappy with the patterns I’ll have to go genuine and sell my body.

Anderzander, I’d really appreciate an update after you have fitted and water tested the seals.

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I've read about pulling out the core - I think I need to figure out what that means.

The main sealing part is a hollow rubber tubing. What they do is fit a solid core of closed cell foam (maybe 10cm long) inside that hollow tubing in the areas where the contour changes. My guess is so that the hollow part doesn't just fold flat. Problem is that the density makes it that much harder to compress when closing the door.

(However, it may just be the case that it all takes time to settle in, so don't rush into pulling out all he cores on day one!)

If you do decide to pull them out, the tubing has little vent holes along its length to allow air out when compressed. With small needle nose pliers you can pull out the core (10mm dia) through those little 3mm vent holes. What you can't do is get hem back in gain should you change your mind!!

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Not had happy times with aftermarket ones, so I went with OEM this time and they are a huge and trouble free improvement. You can get "take off originals on fleebay for a fraction of the genuine price or just keep looking at you'll pick some genuine up. but even for the dealer price I'd still buy some over standard seals, easier fitment, longer lasting, better door sealing, no water/ wind ingress!... Genuine part I wouldn't waste my time for anything else unless they where given to me free.

Mav

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No predicament - Absolutely free or buy genuine. having said that its easy for me as I've been there and done it and had the cash to buy Genuine.

If going pattern, get the cheapest and fully expect to "make do" until a time comes that you can acquire some genuine ones.... :i-m_so_happy:

I wouldn't get too stressed about it. - just suck it and see.

Mav

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I bought 2 front door seals recently - one for each side for my Defender project. One came in a Britpart bag and the other came in an Allmakes bag.

Neither fitted properly and i had to cut the Britpart one as it was too long and both needed to be bent into shape with a rubber mallet and kept falling back off the car. I eventually got them to fit kind of but the doors wouldn't close properly. I hav=d to use Tiger seal on one of them on one side to stop them falling back off the vehicle. It took me ages (I would guess over an hour) to get them to fit but I really wasn't happy with them at all. They were never going to seal correctly and the wind noise was excessive.

I bit the bullet and bought new genuine seals that evening. I fitted them within 1 minute on each side with the heel of my hand (no rubber malle required here!). They are a perfect fit and are formed perfectly to seal. Don't waste your time or money on anything other then genuine seals. The non genuine ones were binned as that is all they are good for!

Oh - I was so impressed that I bought the new type genuine lower door seal for both doors and they are a great job too!

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I bought 2 front door seals recently - one for each side for my Defender project. One came in a Britpart bag and the other came in an Allmakes bag.

Neither fitted properly and i had to cut the Britpart one as it was too long and both needed to be bent into shape with a rubber mallet and kept falling back off the car. I eventually got them to fit kind of but the doors wouldn't close properly. I hav=d to use Tiger seal on one of them on one side to stop them falling back off the vehicle. It took me ages (I would guess over an hour) to get them to fit but I really wasn't happy with them at all. They were never going to seal correctly and the wind noise was excessive.

I bit the bullet and bought new genuine seals that evening. I fitted them within 1 minute on each side with the heel of my hand (no rubber malle required here!). They are a perfect fit and are formed perfectly to seal. Don't waste your time or money on anything other then genuine seals. The non genuine ones were binned as that is all they are good for!

Oh - I was so impressed that I bought the new type genuine lower door seal for both doors and they are a great job too!

:i-m_so_happy: it has been said... ^_^

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Well I had a quick look and the actual material looks ok, but the corner joints look awful ...

However the price difference makes me still think its worth trying ...

The allmakes one are £9.14 - the Land Rover are £54.21

That's a hell of difference.

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